Chicago banker succeeds by empowering employees

Northwestern Financial Review, Aug 1-Aug 14, 2002 by Dullum, Justin

[rising stars]

How do you make a nearly $3.7 billion dollar regional bank feel like a $300 million community bank? Ask 2002 North * Western Financial Review Rising Star Mitch Feiger. He'll tell you to empower your employees.

Feiger earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois and a graduate degree from the University of Chicago in 1981. After college, he landed a job as a consultant at Touche Ross. Three years later, he shifted into banking by signing on with Affiliated Bank, Chicago.

"My father was working at Affiliated, so that was kind of the introduction for me. It was a natural shift," said Feiger.

Affiliated had $600 million in assets at the time. Feiger began his career as an investment manager and asset/liability manager. "I learned an awful lot about the bank in those two positions. On the asset and liability side, you really have to look at most things that go on at the bank," Feiger said.

During his employment, the bank was acquired by Michigan-based Manufacturers National Corp. Feiger stayed on for the next five years, taking on more responsibility all the while. By the end of his tenure, he was responsible for, among other things, retail banking, and the bank had swelled via acquisition to $1.2 billion. Feiger's experience in the mid-size banking world was mounting.

In 1992, Feiger drastically shifted gears. He became part of an investor group bent on buying control of Manufacturers Bank, Chicago, which is unrelated to the Manufacturers National Corp. The group acquired control and Feiger was named president of the holding company.

Manufacturers Bank was a $300 million bank. It was renamed MB Financial and in 10 years grew to $3.7 billion.

"A lot of mid-size banks were being acquired by large out of state banks. I felt that mid-market customers in general were not getting the banking service that they wanted," Feiger explained. "A lot of the banks in the area had gotten much larger, like First Chicago, and we saw a significant void in the market place. If someone could build a mid-market, high quality bank, it would be successful. We put our money where our mouth was in 1992, and it has turned out great."

For the past 10 years, MB Financial has been busy acquiring small and mid-size banks and has grown to the point where it faces no longer fitting into the market void it was designed to fill. Feiger admits a bank can't grow to the size of an MB Financial and maintain all of its community bank character. But with the right management philosophy, it can hold on to most of it.

"In some aspects we have maintained the small bank feel and in some aspects we haven't," said Feiger. "But I think the most important thing we've done to keep service at our bank comparable to that of a smaller bank is that we empower our employees to make decisions. To me that's the greatest single difference between a community bank and a mega bank."

Feiger said the empowerment philosophy feeds itself employees, such as loan officers, are given a great deal of decision-making power and are not bound by a strict set of rules. This power is alluring to talented people in the industry and enables MB Financial to hire experienced individuals it can trust with its liberal decision-making policy. "Our lenders average 20 years of commercial lending experience," said Feiger. This satisfies customers who, Feiger added, increasingly demand quick and flexible decision-making at their bank.

An eye for service and an aggressive growth strategy has created a serious mid-market competitor in MB Financial. It has also landed Feiger a spot on the Illinois Bankers Association's board of directors. He's happy with both situations.

"The IBA truly wants to do right by the industry," said Feiger. "I'm proud to be a part of it."

As for being a competitor, Feiger doesn't plan to rest on his laurels anytime soon. "We plan to keep growing," he said. "Within ten years, I think we'll be the premiere mid-size bank in the Chicago market."